Game Picks - Saturday: July 14, 2012

The way the games started out last night, it appeared the picks were going to be a disaster. After the Blue Jays got beat, 1-0, by Justin Masterson and Alfonso Soriano blew away the Diamondbacks and the Orioles and Cardinals lost, the picks stood at, 1-5. The only correct pick was the Yankees and they had to come from behind to do it. But the night rallied and by the time it was all finished, the picks ended up, 8-7 with the Game of the Day coming up correct too. Phew!

There were a few lessons learned from the evening. One, the Orioles are in free-fall. Two, the Mets are sinking. Three, the Diamondbacks have become dysfunctional. And finally, we found out that the Rays' offense is really that bad. Let's see of Saturday's picks have learned anything:

• The Yankees over the Angels: Let the national announcers go on barking about the Yankees lack of clutch hitting and short porches. They will just keep winning. To do so, Freddy Garcia will have to be at his best and the Yankees will have to get to Jerome Williams.
• The Cubs over the Diamondbacks: Okay, lesson received in this one. The Cubbies are doing well after a horrid start. Ryan Dempster will again audition in front of a dozen scouts. He has been superb at home. Joe Saunders is coming back from the DL to start for the D- backs.
• The Indians over the Blue Jays: Those Blue Jays will continue to outfox this picker. Today, Aaron Laffey goes for that team against a rejuvenated, Ubaldo Jimenez. That should be an easy pick, right? Nothing is ever that easy picking a Blue Jays game.
• The Tigers over the Orioles: Here come the Tigers. Look out world. Max Scherzer has been on a roll and if he and Fister can back up Verlander, the Tigers have something cooking. The Orioles will start Wei-Yin Chen, who has been solid all season.
• The Mets over the Braves: Okay, so this picker hasn't learned enough on this one as he has a soft spot for R.A. Dickey. Tommy Hanson had ten wins one other time at the All Star Break. He finished with eleven. Different year this year? We'll see.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: Since Bill Ivie just became the new president of the BBA, the pick has to be for Kyle Lohse in his honor. Mike Leake has been pretty good despite his record. 
• The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: Another lesson not learned. But c'mon, David Price has been lights out all season. Clay Buchholz is coming back from the disabled list. That is good news for the Red Sox long term, but who knows what to expect in his first outing back.
• The White Sox over the Royals: There was a great line on Twitter last night. A Royals' supporter said (in paraphrase), "When the Royals drafted Luke Hochevar, he was expected to become the best Royals starter. Unfortunately, that is now true." Classic line. Love Twitter. Jake Peavy with the win.
• The Twins over the Athletics: Still can't believe Liriano struck out all those A's and the Twins still lost. What the hay!? Two young pitchers in this one makes this unpredictable. Cole De Vries matches up with Tommy Milone. Both have looked really good. The Twins should have a better offense, so going that way.
• The Brewers over the Pirates: The Pirates are running into a hot offense for the Brewers. Braun is going nuts. Kevin Correia will not be able to slow them down enough to overcome. Marco Estrada goes for the Brewers and the Pirates typically do not hit him very well.
• The Rockies over the Phillies: The Phillies are just that bad. It is so hard to imagine. They are so bad. Vance Worley is the latest victim and Jeremy Guthrie will make the most of his 75 pitches.
• The Giants over the Astros: This is not a pick for Tim Lincecum as much as it is a pick for the Giants' offense being better than the Astros'. Lucas Harrell will get little support.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: With Kemp and Ethier back, so should the Dodgers be. The Padres can't score and Aaron Harang will keep it that way. Edinson Volquez will keep it close.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: Yu Darvish has an ERA against the Mariners in two starts over eight. Seriously!?  He will improve that today immensely. The question will be if the Rangers can score against Felix Hernandez.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Nationals over the Marlins: The Nats are clearly the better team here. They are also better managed. And, geez, Gio Gonzalez is 12-3! That all adds up to a Nat's pick over Mark Buehrle.

Yesterday: 8-7

Week: 17-15

Month: 73-60

Season: 705-576

Games of the Day: 54-40